


strength in the day

by ebonynightwriter



Series: Shallura Week 2016 [10]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aftermath, Angst, Arguments, Canon Universe, Castleship, Drama, F/M, Fighting, Gen, Hurt / Comfort, One-Shot, PTSD, Post-Season/Series 01, Shallura Week 2016, Sparring, Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-08-15 05:14:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8043877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ebonynightwriter/pseuds/ebonynightwriter
Summary: Shiro breaths, and fights. // “I’m not fit to be a Paladin…”





	strength in the day

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N:** _*wipes brow*_ F-I-N-A-L-L-Y done with the last prompts of this week. This and the other one (change) gave me a tough time, but I think I came up with some interesting ideas, even if the execution may be lacking due to the fact that I’ve been writing for three days straight. ^^; Still, pretty happy with the results – even happier that I managed to do something for all the prompts! :)
> 
> -.-
> 
> **[shallura week (2016) // day 7](http://ebonynightwriter.tumblr.com/tagged/mine:%20shallura%20week%202016)** · beginning
> 
> -.-

Armed with a staff, the sparring-bot takes a charging leap forward, coming at him with a strong overhead strike. Shiro grits his teeth, raising his metal arm to catch the staff as it falls, and pulls it toward him with a sharp tug, throwing the bot off-balance. He twists around, kicking the bot with a solid blow that sends it tumbling across the floor. It disappears in a flash of blue energy. Another takes its place, and Shiro starts all over again.

_He can’t believe it._

He runs forward, ducking beneath the staff-arm as the gladiator sends out a wide arc at his head. His Galra arm charges, purple neon glowing hot and _strong_ , and he sends the hand upward, lodging it right into the mech’s chest. He pulls it out swiftly, turning around just in time to strike another bot across the head. Two more take its place.

_She didn’t tell him. She didn’t tell him **anything.**_

He yells – angry and blind. His gut twists, his chest closes in. He barely breathes as he pushes down the next bot, ripping his hand out of its body as he catches a staff on the forearm of his real limb. Pain shoots through his bones, and he throws out a wild hand, crushing the bot’s face between his fingers like a piece of worn paper, crumpled and useless.

_She **lied** to him!_

“Shiro.”

The bots stop all at once, collapsing to the floor. Shiro breathes hard, breathes angry, and he turns at her with fight and fire still in his eyes.

_“Why didn’t you tell me?!”_

Allura stands perfectly still across the room, arms folded across her chest. She closes her eyes for a moment, taking a long and measured breath before opening them again. Her gaze to the floor.

“Keith told you.”

“ _You_ should’ve told me!” he says, jabbing a finger at her as spit flies from his mouth. “You should’ve told me, _right_ from the beginning!”

“That wasn’t important,” Allura replies. “Knowing would’ve caused you to doubt yourself before you’d even begun. Just look at what it’s doing now – you’re an absolute mess.”

“ _Of course I am!_ ” he shouts. He bends forward, hands digging into his skull. His body tenses, air shooting from his nose. He shuts his eyes tight, breathing deeply, evenly, until his hands fall. He stands straighter, but his insides are still filled with rage.

“You should have told me,” he repeats, his voice calmer. “Zarkon – the Black Paladin…” he bites his tongue. “How am I supposed to lead, knowing he—”

“Just as you always have,” Allura says, walking across the room to him. “Knowing Zarkon’s origins shouldn’t affect how you view yourself. You’re not the same.”

“But he _was_ the head of Voltron. The creature who’s conquered and tormented the universe for ten-thousand years! What if you were wrong – what if the Black Lion didn’t choose me because I’m a leader, but because it saw him _in_ me… what if—”

“That’s ridiculous,” Allura says, stopping a few feet before him. “ _You_ are nothing alike.”

He turns away.

“My memory’s still foggy,” Shiro replies, raising his Galra arm to his face. “But I _know_ I’ve done things. _Terrible_ things, in that arena. That bloodthirstiness, the need to win… all of those things Zarkon has in him… Maybe I’m not fit to even _be_ a Paladin—”

“Shiro.”

He looks around just as the gladiator-bot attacks. Throwing himself to the side, he dodges the blow and brings up his Galra arm to block the second strike. The metal rings throughout the room, and Shiro forces his arm up and away. He kicks the bot back, and sees the shadow of the second one appear on the floor. He twists around, his hand ablaze—

—and sees her face.

He stops as she lands in front of him, his hand so close he can see the light reflecting off her skin. He lowers it immediately, teeth grinding together.

“ _What_ were you _thinking?!_ ”

She looks at him, unblinking.

“I was thinking you’d stop,” she says, moving past him. “And I was right.”

He’s speechless. She picks up the fallen staff, turning it over as she speaks.

“I am connected to the Lions, as they are to me,” she says. “The reason I chose you as the leader is _exactly_ why the Black Lion chose you – you have heart, and courage and will _not_ abandon your friends. And it’s for your admittance today, that you are even more deserving of the role than the day we met. You may think you have common ground with Zarkon, but he would _never_ admit to such fears.”

She plants the staff in the ground, looking him straight in the eye.

“His beginnings do not mean your own,” she says. “Only _you_ can decide that.”

Shiro stays silent.

He looks to the ground.

 


End file.
